Fox orders new J.J. Abrams drama, Samberg comedy

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 -- The Associated Press

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Television News

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

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Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A futuristic drama from producer-writer J.J. Abrams of "Lost" and the "Star Trek" movie franchise and a comedy with Andy Samberg of "Saturday Night Live" fame as a carefree police detective will be on Fox's new schedule, the network said.

Four new dramas and five comedies were announced Wednesday for the 2013-14 season by Fox, which got a jump on network presentations to advertisers set for next week in New York.

The Abrams-produced drama, with the working title "Almost Human," was described by Fox as an "action-packed" police series set 35 years in the future, when officers are teamed with human-like androids. The cast will include Karl Urban, Michael Ealy and Lili Taylor.

Greg Kinnear will take on his first continuing broadcast series role in "Rake," a legal drama based on a hit Australian series of the same name, Fox said. The actor, whose movie credits include "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Baby Mama," starred in the cable miniseries "The Kennedys."

Sam Raimi ("Oz the Great and Powerful" and the "Spider-Man" franchise) directed and was an executive producer on the "Rake" pilot.

"Gang Related," about a gang task force in Los Angeles confronting the city's most dangerous criminals, stars Terry O'Quinn ("Lost") as the task force's leader, and rapper-producer RZA, founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, and Ramon Rodriguez as members.

Brian Grazer of "24" and the film "A Beautiful Mind" is an executive producer.

"Sleepy Hollow," the fourth drama announced by Fox, is described as an action-adventure retelling of Washington Irving's classic 19th-century tale, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Timid schoolmaster Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is resurrected 250 years in the future and discovers he must save the world from destruction, with a police officer (Nicole Beharie) as his partner.

The Samberg comedy, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," which also stars Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street," ''Men of a Certain Age") is about a freewheeling detective who gets a by-the-book boss who's intent on making him into an adult, Fox said.

Other new sitcoms set for Fox's coming season:

"Dads," from Seth McFarlane ("Family Guy," the movie "Ted" and a recent stint as Oscar host), stars Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi as best friends whose lives are disrupted by their new roommates, their dads (Martin Mull, Peter Riegert).

"Enlisted," described by Fox as an "irreverent and heartfelt" comedy set on a Florida Army base, is about three brothers getting to know each other and the misfits around them on the base.

"Us & Them," based on the British hit "Gavin and Stacey," stars Jason Ritter ("Parenthood") and Alexis Bledel ("The Gilmore Girls") as a young couple who find their relationship complicated by family and friends.

"Surviving Jack," based on Justin Halpern's semi-autobiographical book, is set in 1990s Southern California and stars Christopher Meloni ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") in a coming-of-age story involving a man and his son.